Ilya Kovalchuk, who had hoped to play despite missing the previous four games with a groin injury, was a scratch for the fifth straight game. He skated as an extra in the pregame warmup. Rod Pelley and Mark Fraser were also Devils scratches.

Johan Hedberg started in goal for the Devils against Boston's Tim Thomas. Petr Sykora, Patrik Elias and Dainius Zubrus started up front with Andy Greene and Adam Larsson on defense.

The Bruins, who started 3-7-0, have won five in a row to get to 8-7-0.

THIRD PERIOD

Boston snapped the 1-1 deadlock six seconds into the period. Patrik Elias lost the faceoff to Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara quickly gave Brad Marchand the puck. Marchand cut inside on rookie defenseman Adam Larsson and then skated in alone on Hedberg for a shot past the goalie's stick side.

But the Devils answered at 2:08 when Andy Greene's pass from along the left wing boards found Nick Palmieri in front. With some fancy stick work and foot work, Palmieri redirected the puck past Thomas.

Unable to clear their zone, the Devils fell behind at 3:40. Gregory Campbell sent a pass in deep to Jordan Caron and he redirected it to Shawn Thornton in front for the go-ahead goal. It was Thornton's first goal of the season.

Palmieri's second goal of the period and third of the season made it a 3-3 game at 6:56. Henrique drove to they net, but the puck was blocked. It came back to Palmieri in the slot for the goal.

Hedberg robbed Horton from the right circle at 11:22. Horton then hit the crossbar with 7:10 left.

After a flurry in front of the net, Clarkson and Carter complained that Bergeron froze the puck in the crease with 4:05 to go.

Benoit Pouliot scored on a rebound just inside the right post at 16:59 to give Boston a 4-3 lead.

SECOND PERIOD

Kovalchuk said he almost played: "It was the coach's decision. It's always the coach's decision. But I'm pretty sure I'll play tomorrow."

Devils' player personnel director David Conte attended the game with his left arm in a sling from a pickup hockey injury.

An errant pass from Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk in his own end led to a Clarkson chance at 1:26, but Thomas made the stop.

With 14:28 left, Tedenby fired a shot from the right circle. Thomas made the save but the uncertain goalie looked into the net to see if it had gone in.

Hedberg stopped a shot from Dennis Seidenberg at 7:10, but he allowed a long rebound that had to be cleared from the slot.

Marchand roughed Henrique at 9:07, putting the Devils on their fourth power play. When Boychuk was called for delay of game at 10:28, it gave the Devils a 5-on-3 for 39 seconds.

Clarkson's one-timer from the left circle beat Thomas with 22 seconds remaining on the two-man advantage. The goal at 10:46 gave the Devils a 1-0 lead and snapped a drought of 22 straight power plays without scoring a goal.

The goal, Clarkson's fifth of the season, came after Devils coach Pete DeBoer called a timeout just before the start of the 5-on-3.

A misplay by Hedberg at 14:52 allowed the Bruins to tie the game, 1-1. Hedberg left his crease to stop a dump-in behind the net. However, he was unable to shoot it past Gregory Campbell, who centered the puck to Chris Kelly alone in the slot for a shot into the open net.

The Devils were outshooting the Bruins, 24-19.

End of period: Devils 1, Bruins 1.

FIRST PERIOD

Greene drew a hooking penalty from Tyler Seguin 18 seconds after the faceoff.

The Devils' first power play had Greene and Mark Fayne on the points with Elias, David Clarkson and Zach Parise up front. Second unit had Henrik Tallinder and Larsson on the points with Sykora, Adam Henrique and Zubrus up front.

Hedberg made a big early save on Brad Marchand with the Bruins short-handed.

Henrique centered for Parise and Nick Palmieri. Ryan Carter centered for Mattias Tedenby and Clarkson. The fourth line had Vladimir Zharkov, Brad Mills and Cam Janssen.